Ryan Fitzpatrick Standoff Ends in Best-Case Scenario for Win-Now New York Jets

There's been much hand-wringing in the Big Apple this summer over the contract impasse between the New York Jets and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. And with good reason—it was easily the biggest question mark hanging over a veteran team that won 10 games a year ago.

Well, that question's been answered in the affirmative, and in signing Fitzpatrick to a reasonably priced one-year deal, the win-now Jets are coming about as close to having their cake and eating it too as NFL teams get.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Wednesday, the Jets and Fitzpatrick came to terms on a fully guaranteed one-year, $12 million deal.

Schefter added there are incentives in the deal that could push its value to $15 million:

It's the end of a standoff that has been going on for months. On one side, there was the team, offering Fitzpatrick low-end starter money for 2016 but no more. On the other side was Fitzpatrick, who was angling for a longer deal and more money. Both sides appeared entrenched.

Then, as ESPN.com's Rich Cimini tweeted, the Jets finally decided that enough was enough. General manager Mike Maccagnan, who all along had said his deadline for doing a deal was the beginning of camp, gave Fitzpatrick an ultimatum—either take the team's best offer or leave it.

Today. By 7 p.m. ET:

It would appear that Fitzpatrick blinked. Whether the day's events were in any way encouraged by the Los Angeles Rams' announcement that they released Nick Foles earlier Wednesday (which dropped another veteran quarterback onto the open market), we don't know. What we do know is the Jets got who they wanted the way they wanted for what they wanted.

And that sets the Jets up to make a real run at their first playoff berth since 2010 this year.

The 33-year-old Fitzpatrick is coming off a career season in his first with the Jets in 2015. His 3,905 passing yards and 31 touchdown throws were both personal bests, as was his 63.63 QBR. Fitzpatrick's 88.0 passer rating was a career best for a season in which he started more than 12 games.

Brad Penner/Associated Press

Most importantly, Fitzpatrick posted a winning record as a starter for the first time in 11 NFL seasons while showing an excellent rapport with veteran receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker.

It's a signing that will no doubt ease the mind of Marshall, who met with Fitzpatrick in Chicago a few days after telling Michael Rapaport on his podcast I Am Rapaport, via CBS New York's Ryan Mayer, that he was scared he hadn't heard from the quarterback for a couple of weeks.

Decker, on the other hand, allowed to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News that it may take a little while for the signal-caller and his receivers to get back on the same page:

"

If he comes back, it's going to take some time. Even when you play with Peyton Manning, you still got to refine the craft in the offseason. … Last year, we were all new to this this. So, let's just figure it out. We all understand the offense and each other (now), but I still think it (will take time) to mold our game.

"

Still, it's on that same page with Fitzpatrick that the Jets have their best chance of making a playoff run in 2016. With all due respect to Geno Smith, the Jets are a better team with Fitzpatrick under center. If a return to the postseason is going to be the Jets' story, it's one that needs telling now.

Theirs isn't a book with a whole lot of chapters left.

The Jets are loaded on both sides of the football with key contributors who aren't getting any younger. Marshall is 32. Free-agent acquisition and new lead tailback Matt Forte is 30, with over 2,000 career carries. Center Nick Mangold, the foundation of the team's offensive line, is 32.

The "10 percent off at IHOP" set is well-represented on defense, too. Inside linebacker David Harris is 32. Star cornerback Darrelle Revis, the team's second-highest-paid player behind Muhammad Wilkerson, is 31.

Add in a 33-year-old Fitzpatrick, and you get a window that's narrowing with each passing day. For this incarnation of the Jets, it's now or never.

Nothing is guaranteed, even with Fitzpatrick in the fold. In his career year a season ago, Fitzpatrick ranked 27th among NFL quarterbacks at Pro Football Focus. He's always been a quarterback prone to giving the ball to the other team, too, and last year's 17 turnovers were no different.

And good though they were last year, a Week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills left the Jets watching the playoffs on TV.

Still, Fitzpatrick was the best the Jets were going to get. With him at the helm last year, the Jets ranked 10th in the NFL in total offense and had their best season since reaching the AFC Championship Game in 2010.

For once, the Jets didn't try to fix something that wasn't broken or break something that didn't need fixing. Maccagnan got the player he wanted on the terms he wanted.

By any measure, that makes Wednesday a good day for Gang Green.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.